Ethanol amendment passes

Just days after rejecting the amendment to end the ethanol tax earmark and tariff, the U.S. Senate reversed course and approved it.  Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released this statement after the amendment passed by a margin of 73 to 27.

“Today’s vote was a major victory for taxpayers and a positive step toward a serious deficit reduction agreement, which is our only hope of averting a debt crisis.  An overwhelming bipartisan majority of senators embraced pro-growth tax reform while rejecting the parochial politics that so often paralyze the Senate.  The best way to reduce our crushing $14.3 trillion debt is by reducing wasteful spending a billion dollars at a time.  This amendment saves taxpayers $3 billion.  In light of today’s lopsided vote, I urge my colleagues in the House to eliminate this wasteful earmark and tariff at their earliest opportunity,” Dr. Coburn said.

The amendment offered by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Dr. Coburn to end the ethanol tax earmark and tariff will save taxpayers $6 billion annually.  Even as 2011 is half over, the amendment will save $3 billion this year.  A broad coalition of organizations on the left and right including the Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity, Koch Industries, and the Sierra Club supported the Feinstein-Coburn amendment.